The sub-committee of the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Saturday decided to cancel the restrictions prescribed under Phase-IV of the Centre’s Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR due to improvement in air quality. The action under Phase IV of GRAP was implemented in an order issued on November 5, 2023. However, the CAQM sub-committee stressed that actions under Phase-I to Phase-III of GRAP to prevent air quality index (AQI) levels from falling into the ‘severe’ or ‘severe+’ category should be effective. Will remain.
The CAQM sub-committee said, “GRAP is an emergency response action plan that has been implemented with the objective of preventing further deterioration in the adverse air quality scenario in NCR. The restrictions under GRAP Phase-IV are disruptive and will affect a large number of stakeholders and ” The public at large.”
The decision to cancel Stage-IV actions was taken when Delhi’s AQI level stood at around 322 (very poor) at 2:00 pm, a considerable improvement from the ‘severe+’ category (AQI > 450) that had triggered Stage-IV. IV actions initiated. News agency PTI has given the news.
The committee expressed optimism about maintaining the improvement in AQI, and forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) do not indicate a drastic deterioration in air quality.
Delhi’s air quality witnessed improvement overnight due to increase in wind speed and change in wind direction. However, it still remains in the ‘very poor’ category. The 24-hour average AQI recorded at 4 pm improved to 339 from 419 on Thursday, PTI reported. Last weekend saw relatively better air quality due to rain, but the following days saw a rise in pollution due to Diwali fireworks and stubble burning.
According to PTI, a joint project by the Delhi government and IIT Kanpur found that vehicular emissions contribute about 45% of the capital’s air pollution.
Stringent measures have been imposed, including a ban on construction work and entry of diesel trucks, and a special task force has been formed to ensure strict adherence to GRAP in Delhi. Despite these efforts, Delhi on Saturday was ranked as the second most polluted city globally, according to Swiss air-quality monitoring company IQAir.
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